Minot Police Sgt. Shane Johnson, the principal case agent, testified that investigators explored every tip and rumor they received after the missing person’s report for McMillan was circulated, but Davis remained the “best suspect of the possible stories.” Johnson said the other narratives included the involvement of Mexican cartels, but ultimately, it was determined there was little to no evidence to support them.

“Most of them indicated the ‘Mexican,’ which would kind of infer cartel members had some kind of beef with him, and trapped him in the basement and murdered him. I investigated everything that was possible,” Johnson said. “We received reports that the cartel had murdered him and the body had been dumped in a field near Towner, North Dakota. There were a lot of reports that the body had been dismembered and left in a field up there. We received one tip that the body had been put in a barrel of acid and left in a garage in Surrey. I responded out to Surrey to a specific residence, and the residence did not have a garage.”

In fact, Johnson said, it was Davis and his associates who perpetuated the rumors that the cartels were involved in McMillan’s disappearance. Johnson testified the leads pointing the investigation outside of Minot had been exhausted, and after several months the cartel angle was ruled out because no concrete connections between Mexicans or the cartel could be established. Johnson said IP data from McMillan’s social media activity showed his last login had occurred on April 7, 2024, at the Minot business his body was eventually found in.

Johnson said this data was used to secure the July 2, 2024, warrant search at the business. Davis was taken into custody during the search for unrelated outstanding warrants and was transported to the Ward County Jail, where he was subsequently interviewed. Johnson said he was in the middle of an interview with the business owner when McMillan’s body was discovered in the boiler room. McMillan was presumptively identified based on his long dreadlocks, and Davis also supplied confirmation the body was McMillan during his interview at the Ward County Jail. McMillan’s phone also was located in a workspace in the building.

Charles Crane/MDN Minot Police Sgt. Shane Johnson, the case agent in the trial of Delon Davis, testifies at the Ward County Courthouse on Tuesday about the investigation into the disappearance of Mark Ramon McMillan Jr. and how it honed in on Davis as the suspect in McMillan’s murder.

Johnson testified regarding the veracity of Davis’ version of the events that resulted in McMillan’s death. He said Davis claimed he used the business’s shop gun to defend himself when McMillan and a Mexican associate cornered him in a recording studio in the building’s basement. Johnson said he found no evidence to support the existence of the shootout that Davis described, locating no bullet holes or evidence of blood in the location.

“The actual evidence from the incident doesn’t seem consistent with the story. The fact there’s a gunfight between at least three parties, but there’s no bullet holes except in the deceased,” Johnson said.

Johnson said rather, evidence such as bruising to McMillan’s body indicated the version of events provided by witness William Weber was true – that McMillan had been shot on the stairs to the basement.

The state concluded with the testimony of a state medical examiner Tuesday. The first defense witness is set to testify this morning.